About Me

Melissa White

Hello, and thanks for visiting my blog! My name is Melissa, and I love being a teacher. This is my 12th year of classroom teaching, both in regular and special education. Before that, I worked for more than a decade with a non-profit children's charity in Cleveland's inner city.

In my spare time (hmmmm?), I teach graduate and undergraduate education courses in reading and special education. I love collaborating and sharing with other teachers, and this blog helps me to do a little bit more.

My passions in teaching include integrating technology, using hands-on activities in math and science, and differentiating instruction for students with various needs. I also have an extensive background in working with students with autism and emotional disturbance, and teach workshops to parents of children with these needs.

Last, but best, I am mom to one terrific daughter! She makes each day brighter, and is the inspiration for what I do each day!

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Elementary
kids love science. I do too! Growing up, science was such an abstract
subject as we just read the textbook and didn’t really make real-world
connections. Now as a teacher myself, I
try to teach science in a hands-on way that encourages kids’ curiosity and
problem-solving.

It’s
impossible to really kids into a deep level of science understanding without
teaching the scientific method. This
concept is so abstract for young learners, and yet they will need to use it all
the way to high school! So, I teach the
scientific method early and loop back to it throughout the year with each
activity we do.

How
do we initially learn the scientific method in our class? With magic markers, coffee filters, cups of
water, and a Smart notebook actiivity. J I call It
the “Magic Marker Mystery.” Students see
how marker dots spread out to various pigments when water is added. I use smelly markers and classic Crayola
markers , but using two other different brands would work too! Black
markers show the coolest effect, but it’s also good to have students try more
than one marker color for comparison.

The
Smart notebook (or Powerpoint version if you prefer) walks the students through
the experiment step-by-step, and the student experiment recording sheet helps
them see the scientific method in action.
This same experiment sheet is used throughout the year with later
activities, and this first lesson really helps familiarize them with the
process that scientists take in their daily work. Best of all, the experiment is quick, easy to
do in the classroom, and super at getting the kids hooked on science!